


An Unstable Thing

by whatshisface



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-31
Updated: 2012-10-31
Packaged: 2017-11-17 11:25:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/551028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatshisface/pseuds/whatshisface
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>it's a late night talk that involves less logic and more emotions. neither of them are experts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Unstable Thing

Tony doesn't sleep, and Bruce isn't really a fan of sleeping—and it isn't because of the nightmares, before anyone starts deducing anything. The night is theirs to do with as they please on most nights.

(these are the nights where Pepper doesn't come in and gets JARVIS to tell Tony to go back to sleep—Bruce still doesn't understand why he'd leave a nice bed and Pepper's company to work on things that will be there in the morning.)

So sometimes they talk. in the middle of lab work, without reason or rhyme, Mr. Stark will raise a question and in return Dr. Banner will offer an answer. Sometimes however, just as soon as the words hit the air, Tony will clear whatever screen he's got up, set down the torch he's got in one hand and flip his welding mask up. He’ll cross over to Bruce’s side of the lab, then toss those screens to the side, take a seat in front (it's usually almost always beside though) of him, and they'll just… talk. About anything, to be honest.

One night, they wind up laying down on the desk - Tony’s head is against Bruce’s but their feet are on opposite ends of the table. Reaching above him, the billionaire fumbles while trying to mess with the doctor's hair (he hits Bruce in the nose several times before he actually gets there) but he exhales once he nails it. And Bruce lets him do it, finds the angle weird but if Tony’s not complaining, he won't stop him.

"Read anything interesting lately, Dr. Banner?"

He hasn't, honestly. But he nods against that hand and lets himself breathe easy for once.

They talk about things they've never read before, make them up off the top of their head while drawing on facts they already know. at one point they move onto the topic of the human body and all of the abuse it takes. Topics range from the piece of shrapnel trying to kill Tony and how his body can't defend against that, to how Bruce’s first defense to gamma radiation was to invite a big green man into his life to save him. Somewhere inbetween, Tony lightens the mood and talks about the worst paper cut he’s ever had. ‘The _worst_.’ The conversation slows down at that point, with both wondering how the hell either of them are still alive.

(it's a quiet thought, but Bruce has never been more glad to have someone there who understands. Tony is no more grateful that he _has_ someone.)

By now the two of them are on their sides against the table, back to back. Tony’s propped his head up in his hand, elbow digging into the metal and Bruce has both hands under his own, eyes wandering the room. Machines hum and hiss their conversations, and the air from the vent above gets drowned out. He hears the man behind him take in a large breath, and his heart still beats inbetween the exhale.

The light of the arc reactor burns bright above the dimmed screens, because everything else is off, untouched and cold. They haven't worked on anything since this conversation's started. Tony stretches his legs, brushes the bottom of his feet against Bruce’s and while it's a strange sensation, it's not an unwelcome one. He snorts, curls up and elbows Bruce gently to keep things going, because this gem is too good to be true.

"Seriously? Come on, tell it to me again." Bruce can't help his own laugh, fixes his position and nods.

"My cousin and I thought about it once, a long time ago." And at that Tony’s up and at them, turning around so he can lean over Bruce and squint in his direction, motioning for him to go on. He doesn't look up at him and instead stares to the far wall with a smile on his face.

With a shrug, Dr. Banner continues. "It was during the summer. This guy we knew got hit with a baseball during a game, struck him right in the chest. He stopped breathing for at least five minutes, dead pulse and everything." The idea was terrifying to him as a kid, and now? He wants nothing more than to find the reason why, to discover that same spot and figure out just what it was that happened that day (he's aware that the idea sounds ridiculous, but it won't stop him from trying). He lets out a sigh, closes his eyes for a moment and thinks about it. "So if you get hit hard enough in this spot, your heart stops."

Tony’s chest tightens at the idea and for a moment he almost has the feeling that a hundred arc reactors wouldn't be able to stop that piece of shrapnel, not if he was hit *that* hard. It's a childish thought, he knows that and so he scoffs at the idea, falls onto his back. His eyes leave Bruce for the ceiling.

"That’s ridiculous. Sounds like a story a parent tells their kid so they won't go and do something dumb." A thoughtful pause. "It’d also be _terrifying_ if it did exist. Any ideas on a name, doctor?"

Bruce rolls his shoulders, falls onto his back so that they're side to side this time. "I couldn't tell you even if I tried." It's a long laugh that leaves Stark's lips this time, complete with a knee slap. Reaching over, he rests his forearm against Bruce’s stomach, eyes still judging that ceiling panel that looks a little out of place. He’ll have to get that fixed later, if he bothers to remember.

"Let's name it after the big guy." That gets a quiet brow raise that he doesn't even have to see to know it's there. So he grins. "Juggernaut packs a pretty hard hit, after all. He could get every heart stopping if he wanted."

And then his arms are stretched out, panning over space as if he's trying to sell a car, even. Both of them don't bother to think about the morbid nature that could come with this discussion, because while it sounds like a horrible idea that could kill the mood, it's amusing and dumb and something that they don't have to think too hard about. The bitterness behind Bruce’s next smile is lenient —because the other guy really could—, and he lifts a hand to pull both of Tony’s down. That's when Tony realizes he's taken this joke a little too far, but it makes sense.

The big guy can get hearts stopping with one blow, and Bruce hasn't even had to lift a hand to get his skipping beats ("this is so dumb", he breathes quietly). The man with two hearts (one beating and one working) smiles small, turns his head after finding the spaces inbetween the doctor's fingers. And yes, maybe this is the result of going four days without sleep, but he doesn't care at this point, turns back on his side to face Bruce. "Actually," He begins.

This is the part where neither of them are sure how serious the conversation is anymore, and how much of it was never meant to happen. And circadian rhythms be damned, neither of them have been more glad to stay awake.

"—let's name it after you."

**Author's Note:**

> crossposted on dreamwidth. putting this up just for the sake of something. what am I doing.
> 
> full title: the body is unstable, and nothing can be done about it.


End file.
